I know my van is going to be repoed and tonight I was sitting in my living room watching tv and I saw a light shinning in the window. I looked out and there was a tow truck driving down the road shinning a light at everybodies house, I figured he was looking for my van so I got my husband out of bed. The tow truck then turned around in the next drive way and parked in the street by my house. A man got out and walked up the drive way. He was snooping around the garage and went to the side of the garage and tried to shine a light into the garage window. I guess he was looking for the van. He then went and got back in his truck and after about 5 minutes he pulled away. He never came to the door. In my opinion he was trustpassing. All he has to do was come to the door and he could have had the van. Was he with in his legal rights to e snooping around my property at midnight?

There may be a small grace period in your state but if not, generally, your creditor has legal authority to seize your car as soon as you default on your loan. Once you are in default, your creditor may repossess your car at any time without prior notice and may come onto your property to do so.

However, the creditor may not commit a "breach of the peace" by using physical force or threats of force. If this occurs, your creditor may be required to pay a penalty or compensate you for any harm done to you or your property.

The funny thing about owning property is, people can trespass legally in certain instances. Unfortunately, this is one of those instances.

What a repossessor cannot do is jump over a gate to achieve entry onto a property, cut locks on gates, and if there is a lock on your garage door (I suggest buying one and installing it), they cannot cut or otherwise tamper with the lock in order to access your garage or any of its contents (including your vehicle). Once inside any dwelling, a person is guilty of trespassing, no matter who they are or what they are there for.

Homeowners are still within their legal rights to protect themselves from danger, perceived or real. Invest in a can of mace.

Yep, OP can buy locks and mace and sit up all night watching for the repo man...OR...just a funny thought here... OP could PAY for her van (or get insurance - a vehicle with a loan is repo'd if the owner fails to keep it insured even if the loan is current).

All the time, energy, and money spent avoiding a repo, what a waste - just pay.

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Getting fired isn't an illegal termination unless you are a member of a protected class (race, religion, disability, etc) AND you were fired for that reason.

Of course that would be the ideal solution. However, the OP wasn't asking for moral advice. She was asking for legal advice.

Further, nobody suggested that the OP sit up all night with a can of mace in hand. But if people are sneaking around on her property, she has the legal right to protect herself.

Just because a person is on a property for purportedly employment related purposes doesn't mean they aren't capable of criminal action. I wouldn't trust any person who resorts to working as a repossessor. That is pretty much bottom of the barrel employment that requires a person to have questionable moral character.

The point of the OP's question wasn't to get moral advice on whether or not she should pay. She was not asking whether she should pay or risk repossession. She asked if it was legal for the repo guy to come sneaking onto her property late at night and what can and can't a repo person do on a person's property. I.E. what are her LEGAL rights.

Please, let's stick to giving legal advice and give this OP enough credit that she's well aware of her financial obligations.

Apparently it's impossible for some of your posters to keep your own emotions out of the equation when answering people's questions. Sarcasm is emotional. Keep it to yourself.

The issue of "stealing being a legal issue" was NOT what the OP asked. How many times and how many ways can that point be driven home before some of you get it? The OP is fully aware of why a repo person is on her property. That said, she simply asked what is legal for the repo person to do and what's not. ALL OTHER ISSUES ARE IRRELEVANT.